Yearning for Love (2 page)

“That explains why I’ve never met you,” he said.  He held out his arm for Nicole to take. “Shall we get started with the rehearsal?”

*****

Jeremy held Patty back from leaving with Nicole and Walker. “Patty, what are you doing?” He questioned.

“I’m not doing anything a good friend would not do,” Patty answered raising her eyebrow.

“Walker is with Mary Ellen.  You have to get over the nonsense of wanting to break them apart.”

“Mary Ellen doesn’t deserve him, Jeremy.  You see how she treats him.  She is a snake hiding under a curvy body and pretty hair.  Mary Ellen is going to hurt Walker, and you know it.”

He shook his head. “No, I don’t know that.  You don’t like her because she has contact with her ex-husband.”

“I have not trusted her since you introduced her to Walker.  She cannot look me in the eye when we talk about her ex-husband.  She is messing around with that man behind Walker’s back.”

“Patty, they have kids and share custody.  She has no choice but to talk to the man.”

“This has nothing do with her kids. I know what I see in her.  She is playing Walker for a fool.  He watches her kids, while she and that sleazy ex-husband are messing around.”

“Why can’t women be more like men and not look for faults in people?  Even if Walker is unhappy with Mary Ellen, he won’t pursue another woman while he is with her.  I know my brother.  He has to decide when to end it with Mary Ellen, not you.”

“I know your brother also.  He is unhappy, and he took to Nicole right away.  She may be his opportunity to escape the clutches of that she-devil.”

“Babe, they are two different people.  You have to tread carefully with this.”

Patty frowned. “Are you making reference to her being black?”

“No—well, maybe.  Patty, I’m looking after his best interests.  He is my baby brother and…”

“And a grown man,” she said putting her hands on her hips.  “Nicole is a beautiful person inside and out.  In case you forgot, I have black people in my family, and will not tolerate any bigotry when they arrive for the wedding tomorrow.”

“Come on, Patty.  I’m not a bigot.  Your sister being married to a black man doesn’t bother me one bit.”

“Good because Desmond is a good man.  He is wonderful husband for my sister and provides very well for their kids.  I love his family too.”

“I agree Desmond is a good man.  Alicia did well snagging herself a doctor when all you get is an investment banker.”

“I’m in banking, so I’m glad we have that in common.”

“One day we will have a fancy house filled with kids and a car for every day of the week just like your sister.”

Patty adjusted his shirt collar under his sweater.  “That is not what I’m after, Jeremy.  I love you, and want to keep you happy.  I also want Walker to be happy with someone that is looking out only for him.  Who knows, Nicole could be the perfect woman for him, and I will do whatever in my power to get them together if I see any more sparks.”

“Okay, Patty, but don’t go messing around causing trouble, please,” he begged.

“If Walker were truly happy with Mary Ellen, I would not be meddling in his love life.  Is he really happy with her?”

Scratching his head, Jeremy hesitated before answering. “Well, he did mention a problem with her.”

“Then, baby, don’t talk back to me, just let me have my way this once,” she demanded with a heavy voice.

He took her hand entwining her fingers with his.  “I don’t want him hurt.  Mary Ellen is the only woman he has dated exclusively in years.  If you break them apart and be wrong in accusing her, he will never forgive me.”

“I am not wrong about her.  Honey, I want Walker to be as happy as we are when he is ready to settle down.”

Jeremy skewed his face.  “That will never happen.”

She asked tapping her toe. “And why not?”

“Because, sweetheart; I AM the happiest man on the earth.  Now let’s go rehearse this wedding thing so we can get it right tomorrow,” he said kissing her nose.

“I won’t dispute that.”

*****

The wedding rehearsal went smoothly, and final preparations for the wedding march were finally over.  Seated inside the spacious Italian restaurant waiting for dinner to be served, the wedding party traded jokes and poked fun at the happy couple while toasting them with the blessings of a healthy union.  Leading the roaring roasts were Walker and Lance, who were both serving as best man to Jeremy and putting an end to the threesome’s musketeer bachelorhood.

Walker excused himself from the conversation with Lance when his cell phone rang.  It was a text message from Mary Ellen stating she was waiting in the Velvet Room.  He scratched the back of his neck confused since she was supposedly working.  Sliding his phone back in the holster clipped on his belt, he ducked from the dinner party to find the lounge.

Stopping a busboy for directions to the Velvet lounge, he found the room tucked away on the backside of the restaurant.  The room lived up to its name with heavy red velvet curtains blocking any visible windows and plush red carpeting covering the floors.  A long couch covered in red fabric with tables piecing off sections, lined one wall of the room.  Tall tables with accommodations for two filled the other side of the room.  The large circular bar was the center of attraction and apparently the meeting place for singles wanting to make a quick hook up and move to the intimate settings of the couch or the tables, each with lit candles sitting atop them.

Walker waited for his eyes to adjust to the red lights adding emphasis to the redness of the room, to look for Mary Ellen.  She wouldn’t be hard to spot in the blinding color maze.  He would always see her hair first.  The bright white blonde of her hair stood out in any dark room.  Plus, she had a ton of hair which she teased high on her head.  Mary Ellen was originally from Dallas, Texas where everything was done in big proportions.  Not only did she have big hair, but big breasts that he deemed her best asset.  And when she wanted her way, she knew how to use them to gain an advantage and win.

He scanned the people in the bar not spotting her right away.  As he turned to leave thinking the text was a mistake, a laugh coming from behind him caught his attention.  It was her unique laugh.  A high-pitched squeal that made people jump if they’d never heard it before.  He turned around not expecting the greeting he received.

In his mind, he always suspected it, but didn’t want to believe it was true.  Holding his composure, he walked to the table to interrupt the couple holding hands.  “Well, either you made a mistake and sent out a mass text message, or this is your way of letting me know I’ve been dumped.  Which one is it, Mary Ellen?”

She jerked around on the small barstool barely large enough to fit her butt, almost falling off. “Walker,” she said surprised in the Texan drawl she had not lost since moving to Ohio. “What are you doing here?”

“I would ask you the same question but I see you and Gary must be discussing the kids again.”

She slid off the stool when Gary stood up in a confrontational manner. “Oh, my God—the dinner for the wedding party is being held downstairs tonight.”

He folded his arms across his broad chest.  “Yeah, imagine that.”

“Walker, I did not mean for you to find out this way.”

He narrowed his brow. “What?  You didn’t mean for me find you cheating with your ex-husband with my brother’s rehearsal dinner going on downstairs!”

“Walker, I forgot where the dinner was being held…”

“Cut the bull, Mary Ellen!  I’m not blind.  I want to know how long you’ve been lying to me.”

“Walker, you have to understand Gary and I have kids together.  We have a history together.”

He motioned with his hands. “So this intimate setting for two is structural and a requirement for discussing the best practices for raising your kids.  Don’t play me for a fool, Mary Ellen.  If you have learned nothing about me from the eight months we have been together, you know I hate liars and cheaters.  I’ve asked you repeatedly if you were messing around with this idiot, and you denied it.”

Gary moved from his seat to get in Walker’s face. “Back away from my wife before this gets ugly.  I would hate to see you carried out of here on a stretcher.”

Walker didn’t blink an eye. “If you have balls that big then, bring it on.”

Mary Ellen squeezed between the alpha males separating them.  “Stop it.  There is no need to fight over me.  Walker, please don’t make this harder than it has to be.  Gary and I have been talking, and we think if we go back to Dallas, we can make our marriage work this time.”

He backed away from her hand before she could touch him. “Whatever, Mary Ellen; this is the reason I didn’t give all of me to you.  But your boys I cared about.”

“My boys have a father and don’t need you!”  Gary spat.

Walker shook his head. “You’re right they don’t need me and I don’t need this crap.  I’m out of here.”

“Walker, wait,” Mary Ellen called after him. “I will be leaving Cleveland in a couple of days for good.”

“Good luck,” he said hiding his pain from her.

“Please don’t think I didn’t care about you—I do.  In my heart, I have always loved Gary.  We made a mistake and divorced in haste.  We want to get our family together again.  You can understand that right?”

“I understand you used me until you made up your mind what you wanted.”

“No, I didn’t do that.  It is breaking my heart to do this to you.”

“I know, I hear it cracking as you speak,” he said mockingly.

“Walker, I don’t want to leave without the boys saying goodbye.  They care about you too.”

He thinned his lips as his anger grew. “Just go and don’t do me any favors by pretending you or your boys give a care about my feelings.”

She ran her hands up his arm comforting him. “Walker, you are a wonderful man.  You deserve a woman with only you on her mind and no other baggage in her life.  I know she is out there and waiting for you to find her.”

He turned away from her and walked out of the room not looking back.  The pain from the knife penetrating his heart dulled him from showing any emotion as he took the stairs to the first floor and outdoors.  The freezing temperatures didn’t faze him as he paced the parking lot forgetting his car keys were in the pocket of his coat.

Leaning against his snow-covered car, his cell phone rang.  He kept his voice low to keep the despair ripping through his body from showing.  “Yeah, what’s up, Jeremy.”

“Where are you?”

“Um, I needed some air.  I’ll be inside in a minute.”

“Hurry up; we’re about to have dinner.”

“I’m on my way,” he said clicking off the phone.

The cold weather suddenly embraced him as he began to walk towards the restaurant.  He stopped when he saw a woman fall down on the snow-covered sidewalk.   The adrenaline kicked in when the woman didn’t get up immediately.  Rushing to her side, he kneeled down recognizing it was Nicole.  “Nicole, are you okay?”

Her eyes appeared glazed over as she stared at him not speaking. “Nicole, can you hear me?  Are you hurt?” He asked her without getting an answer.

Walker picked her up and hurried inside the restaurant.  “Someone call 911 now! He shouted to the first person he saw.

Jeremy and Patty rushed from the dining room. Patty ran over to him.  “Nicole!  Desmond, help her; she's diabetic.  Where is her purse, she probably has insulin in her purse,” she said panicking.

Desmond rushed over to help as Walker laid her on the floor.  “She is crashing.  She didn’t look right to me when she said she wasn’t feeling well.  Alicia, get my bag from the car and hurry,” he instructed his wife who jumped into action.

A waiter found the purse outside and handed it over to Desmond.  He removed the case containing insulin, syringes, a glucometer and a vile of glucose.  Pulling off her glove, he prepped her finger to test her blood sugar.  “Her glucose level is extremely low.  I have to get it up before she lapses into a coma.”

Desmond removed the vile of glucose filling the syringe while Patty and Walker freed her arms from the sleeves of her coat. “Okay, Desmond, we have her arms free.  You can give her a shot of insulin,” Patty said holding Nicole’s head in her lap.

“She is hypoglycemic; a dose of insulin would kill her.  I have to get sugar in her system,” he said pulling her dress up to expose her stomach.

Walker’s eye widened. “Dang, Doc, do you have to pull her clothes up in front of everyone?”

“This is the quickest way to get the glucose in her system,” he said cleaning an area on her stomach with alcohol before penetrating it with the syringe.

“All right but can all you people, please turn around and give the lady a little respect,” he said shooing the onlookers forming a circle around them.

The manager handed Desmond a glass of orange juice.  “Doctor, is there anything else I can do to help?  EMS is on the way.”

“Do you have an empty room where I can take her?  When she comes around she will be disoriented, and I agree with Walker, she will need privacy to get herself together.”

“You can use my office,” the manager said.

Walker watched Desmond struggle to lift Nicole’s body up from the floor.  He wasn’t a big man.  His short stature and thinly built frame didn’t carry much muscle.  Walker shook his head moving Desmond aside to sweep Nicole in his arms.  “Lead the way to your office,” he instructed while balancing the unconscious woman carefully in his arms.

Chapter Two

Nicole opened her eyes.  She didn’t immediately recognize the faces hovering over her or calling her name. “Nicole? Welcome back—you gave us quite a scare young lady.”

Her head was dizzy, and her vision blurred as she tried to ascertain her surroundings.  “Nicole, look at me.  I’m Desmond; I’m a doctor, remember.  Your sugar was dangerously low, and you passed out.  I want to transport you to the hospital as a precaution.”

“No hospital,” she mumbled.  Her tongue felt thick and her mouth dry as she tried to speak in sentences that were coherent.

“You don’t want to go to the hospital?  Is that that what you said?”

Blinking she tried to sit up.  The blood pressure cuff around her arm was tight, and the hand holding her down crushed her chest. “Let me up, please.”